Right-wing agenda revealed

As everyone expected, congressional Republicans are using the need for massive appropriations to mop-up the Katrina catastrophe as an excuse to cut all the things from the budget that they never wanted there in the first place. From the Times:

At the top of a partial list of the potential cuts being circulated on Tuesday were previously suggested ideas like delaying the start of the new Medicare prescription drug coverage for one year to save $31 billion and eliminating $25 billion in projects from the newly enacted transportation measure.

The list also proposed eliminating the Moon-Mars initiative that NASA announced on Monday, for $44 billion in savings; ending support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $4 billion; cutting taxpayer payments for the national political conventions and the presidential election campaign fund, $600 million; and charging federal employees for parking, $1.54 billion.

Now, most of that pretty much jives with my understanding of the Republican party. Cut drugs for old people? Sure. Don't go to Mars? Well, Martians probably haven't got much oil, anyway. Kill public broadcasting? Bunch of communists. End public support for elections? Hell, Democrats need it more.

But the cuts reveal the sinister next steps of the party - charging federal employees for parking. What a dastardly plot! I mean, they own the lots, they pretty much have the federal employees by the balls already, and who's gonna complain - everybody hates those damn bureaucrats. I can see it now: government agencies will have to rent office space - from the government. Pure genius!

I can't wait to go to the post office after Congress implements toilet paper fees for postal workers - I'm sure that line will be quick and efficient.